Smart View 11.1.2.5.800

Oracle has released a new version of the Smart View Office add-in: 11.1.2.5.800. Most of the new features are meant to be used with Essbase:

• New Essbase Expense Type Option - inverts the sign for data in columns related to revenue, liability, and owner's equity accounts (for ASO databases)
• New option called Enable Varying Attributes allows Essbase users to display #Invalid or #NumericZero for cells that are empty only because they are not associated with the context attribute or varying attribute in a query
• You can now use an MDX-based calculation script to calculate an ASO database in Oracle Analytics Cloud
• New View Properties button in the OBI EE ribbon
• Enhanced Move Formatting options - since Move Formatting on Operations may affect performance on zoom operations, this Oracle Smart View for Office formatting option is now always disabled by default.

You can read more about these features in the SV 11.1.2.5.800 readme file.

Smart View Health Check

Health Check is a handy new tool that has been added to the SV Help menu.

The tool displays version details for the operating system, Excel and Smart View and also shows the most important settings affecting SV performance and stability. There is a button you can click to set recommended settings on the user profile level. This is nice functionality for troubleshooting refresh issues that are often caused by timeout settings not being tuned properly in Windows registry.

Firefox Extension

Firefox ESR 60 and later require all add-ons to be created in the new WebExtension format (as mentioned in my previous post). Oracle has now updated the Firefox extension that is used by the “Open in Smart View” links in EPM/Hyperion web forms (only Firefox needs this extension - Internet Explorer opens the links in a different way). It's worth noting that the extension is no more distributed with the Smart View package like it used to be and therefore all Firefox users need to install it separately from the Mozilla Add-ons website. It is also possible to automate the installation using alternative distribution options.

Links

• Download the latest version on the Smart View website: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/smart-view-for-office/overview/index.html
• Readme file for Smart View 11.1.2.5.800
• Smart View add-on on the Mozilla Add-ons website

Firefox Update Breaks Smart View Links (On-Premise + Cloud)

Mozilla has just released a new version of their browser: Firefox 57 “Quantum”. The new release is promised to be even faster than before, but there is one downside as well; it disables extensions that haven’t been implemented with the new WebExtensions technology. The extension installed by Oracle Smart View is among the "legacy" extensions that can't be used with the latest Firefox version.

This means that the "Open in Smart View" links in HFM, Planning, PBCS and FCCS will cease to work in latest Firefox because they rely on the old extension.

Open in Smart View (HFM)

Open in Smart View (PBCS)

Oracle has published the following statement in the latest Smart View readme file and also in the monthly notes for the EPM Cloud Services.

USING FIREFOX ESR 52.4.2 WITH SMART VIEW

Future releases of Mozilla Firefox will be phasing out support for XUL-based add-ons such as Smart View. Starting in mid-November 2017, only add-ons and extensions built with new web extension technology will work in Firefox. Therefore, Smart View 11.1.2.5.710 only supports Firefox versions up to ESR 52.4.1. If you want to continue using Firefox with Smart View 11.1.2.5.710, do not upgrade your Firefox browser. If your Firefox browser is set to automatically install updates, Oracle recommends changing the setting to “Check for updates, but let me choose whether to install them.” See the Firefox help for instructions on changing this setting.

I have not heard any official statements yet, but I hope that Oracle will update the Smart View extension to work with the latest version soon. Meanwhile your best option is to use the less frequently updated Firefox ESR version as Oracle recommends.

Financial Reporting Studio's Days Are Numbered

There has been a lot of activity going on around Hyperion Financial Reporting Studio in the past few months. In case you haven't heard, Oracle is planning to get rid of the old Windows-based report authoring tool and this change is going to be carried out quite soon. Here are the facts:

• Financial Reporting Web Studio was introduced in the March 2016 update for PBCS and released as Patch Set Update .701 for EPM 11.1.2.4 two months later. Web Studio lacked some functionality at the time of the release but has almost reached parity with the Windows based Studio after recent updates.

• As announced in the December 2016 update for PBCS, the desktop client is going to be replaced by this web-based solution. The switch is tentatively planned to happen in the May 2017 update of the cloud service. The same schedule is also mentioned in the Statement of Direction document recently released on My Oracle Support.

• The readme file for FR Patch Set Update 11.1.2.4.704 informs users that support for the Studio desktop client will be discontinued in an update preliminary scheduled for mid-2017.

How does this affect Hyperion administrators using FR Studio then? First of all, you can continue using the old client and Web Studio side by side until you feel comfortable moving to the new solution. But I recommend that all users of Oracle Cloud Services (PBCS or FCCS) and those running EPM 11.1.2.4 should start familiarizing themselves with Web Studio as soon as possible. Financial Reporting has always been very picky in the sense that the client and server components have to run identical versions and this means that an update to Cloud Services will render the desktop Studio useless immediately when Oracle stops releasing an updated client. The same version requirement also applies to on-premise installations but there you will have more control over when to apply the "Studio-killing" patch (supposedly to be released in mid-2017). You can choose not to install the patch right away but it's not likely that you can postpone it forever though.

I assume that customers using EPM version 11.1.2.3 or older will not be affected by these changes as older releases have already fallen outside Oracle's error correction policies. It's still worth keeping in mind that Web Studio will be the only option when you choose to upgrade to a later release.

Further reading:

• Financial Reporting Web Studio User's Guide
• My earlier post about Web Studio 
• Readme file for the latest FR Patch Set Update (11.1.2.4.704)

HFM Java API Part 1: Getting Started

Ok, Kscope16 went by and the conference was awesome. My summer holiday is also far gone and it was nice even though the weather could have been better (but hey, I live in Finland, not in Spain or Florida so some fluctuations are expected). After getting back to work in August I have been very busy helping a couple of customers who have gone live with their new HFM 11.1.2.4 environments or are in the process of doing so. But now it's time to update the blog again!

I did a presentation about the new HFM Java API in Kscope16 and was glad to hear that many developers are already using it to achieve some cool things - like Ricardo and Rodrigo of DEVEPM.com with their ODI KM (how's the paper doing guys? ;). I decided to release my short "Getting Started" document to public to make it slightly easier for to people to pick up JDeveloper and get their first project built using the Java API.

Link: Set Up New HFM API Project In JDeveloper (PDF document)

After getting the IDE ready you can start developing code for your Java program. In the next post I will concentrate on the coding part and show you examples of common tasks in HFM such as extracting data and running consolidations.

Financial Reporting Web Studio Arrives To On-Premise EPM

If you have attended an Oracle EPM roadmap session lately you have most probably heard that unlike previous years a new EPM release is not scheduled for 2016. While waiting for the big 12c release to drop, new updates and features will be added to the current version in the form of Patch Set Updates. HFM PSU 11.1.2.4.200 was a prime example of this strategy and now Financial Reporting is the next product to get a feature-laden update.

Financial Reporting PSU 11.1.2.4.701 was released today and it contains two big changes: FR Web Studio (a web-based report authoring tool) and an updated charting engine. I applied the PSU on my virtual machine running EPM 11.1.2.4 and took a peek at these new features.

Copy HFM Applications Using The Import Application Feature

In this post I document the steps required to configure the Import Application feature introduced in HFM 11.1.2.4.200. I recommend reading my earlier post about the Patch Set Update if you haven't done that already. Note that the configuration is database vendor specific and I used MS SQL Server – if you need guidance for setting things up with an Oracle database you can see Larry Lapp's recent blog post about the same topic.

Prerequisites

• HFM with Patch Set Update 11.1.2.4.200 (patch number 21225611) installed 
• Access to SQL Server Management Studio with sysadmin privileges
• SYSADMIN role granted to the SQL login used by HFM (Yes – the almighty sysadmin role. This requirement is documented as known issue #21032270 in the PSU .200 readme)

Quick Review Of HFM Patch Set Update 11.1.2.4.200

Oracle has released another big PSU to HFM 11.1.2.4. This one has been in the works for a long time so I was eager to test the update ASAP even though I'm still jet-lagged after returning from a two-week vacation in the Far East.

Version number reads "Oracle Hyperion Financial Management, Fusion Edition - 11.1.2.4.200.5149"

New Features

Let's start with the most interesting bits. The list of new features included in the readme file is long but slightly misleading... Most of the "new" functions have already been included in PSU .100 and just listed again as this is a cumulative patch. Read on to find out what actually is new in this Patch Set Update.

FDMEE Patch Set Update 11.1.2.4.100

Here's a quick update for those who are running FDMEE version 11.1.2.4. The big Patch Set Update .100 has been released - just in time for Christmas! Because my friend Francisco is the real expert when it comes to the product in question, I'll let him explain you what's new in this update.

• Blog post: FDMEE 11.1.2.4.100 released (PSU100) - Part 1

Oracle resources (Oracle account required):

• Readme file for FDMEE PSU 11.1.2.4.100 
• Download the PSU (patch 20648390)

Kscope16 Conference

The Kscope16 conference will take place in Chicago on June 26th - 30th, 2016. I am pleased to inform you that I will be there to present two sessions about my favorite Hyperion product:

• Unravel The Secrets of The New HFM API
• Upgrading To The Latest HFM Version? Set Your Expectations Right!

The ODTUG content review teams have been working hard to get tons of of great sessions selected so book your place early!

Copy Application Utility For HFM 11.1.2.4 - Well, sort of...

Oracle has just released a new patch for Financial Management 11.1.2.3. The patch delivers what many (if not all) customers who have adopted the latest HFM release have been asking for: a version of the Copy Application utility that works with HFM 11.1.2.4. The following actions are possible using the updated utility:

• Copy HFM applications between different 11.1.2.4 environments (both need to have minimum patch level of 11.1.2.4.100)
• Copy HFM applications from older release (11.1.2.x) to 11.1.2.4. The Upgrade Applications taks must be performed in EPM System Configurator afterwards.

Smart View 11.1.2.5.500 Released

Oracle has released Smart View version 11.1.2.5.500 yesterday. I haven't had a chance to test the release yet but according to the documentation the biggest changes in this release are:

• Support for HFM journals: view journal properties, create, edit, submit, approve, post, unpost, and delete journals. HFM version 11.1.2.4.100 is required to use this new functionality.
• Extended support for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE): multiple connections now supported. OBIEE patch 11.1.1.7.140527 is required.

Read full details and download the patch from Oracle Support: Patch 21635725: Patch Set Update: 11.1.2.5.500 for Oracle Smart View for Office. When upgrading from SV 11.1.2.x you can simply run the installer to upgrade the add-in (no need to uninstall the older version first). And as usual, please share your experiences if you try this version in your EPM environments!

HFM 11.1.2.4 PSU 100 - Fixes And New Features

EPM version 11.1.2.4 was released in February and as you probably already know it brought a lot of changes to Hyperion Financial Management. Application performance is promised to be better and the new simplified HFM architecture has other benefits as well. Still it's common for many customers to be careful after major changes like this and to wait for at least one Patch Set Update to become available before picking up the new version. After a long wait, HFM PSU 11.1.2.4.100 was released on Friday last week. You can download PSU .100 (patch nr. 20455650) on Oracle Support. Let's have a look at the list of changes in this update.

New Features

The following new features are introduced in the PSU.

Patch Set Update .700 - IE11 Support Comes To EPM 11.1.2.3

Oracle seems to be in the process of releasing patches belonging to Patch Set Update 11.1.2.3.700. There is a handy list of all .700 patches in the readme file for the Financial Reporting patch that is already downloadable. Note that all of the packages mentioned in the list are not yet available as I'm writing this post and I'm also not sure whether or not PSUs will also be issued for Essbase.

Update on July 2nd: Added the patches for Shared Services and Workspace that were missing from the original list

Product Name	11.1.2.3.700 PSU Patch Number
Oracle Data Relationship Management	21107706
Oracle Financial Reporting	20838970
Oracle Hyperion Calculation Manager	21292109
Oracle Hyperion Disclosure Management	20619384
Oracle Hyperion Financial Close Management	20768349
Oracle Hyperion Financial Data Quality Management Enterprise Edition	20779592
Oracle Hyperion Financial Management	20955781
Oracle Hyperion Performance Management Architect	20929659
Oracle Hyperion Planning	20643564
Oracle Hyperion Profitability and Cost Management	20915688
Oracle Hyperion Reporting and Analysis Framework	20768325
Oracle Hyperion Tax Provision	21219363
Oracle Hyperion Web Analysis	20880421
Oracle Hyperion Shared Services	20675028
Oracle EPM Workspace	20612400

The most important update in this PSU is native support for Internet Explorer 11:

"Apply this patch to use Internet Explorer release 11 in standards mode instead of in Enterprise Mode. After you apply this patch, you can no longer use Enterprise Mode. You must apply the 11.1.2.3.700 PSU for all EPM products in your deployment."

The EPM System Certification Matrix document will undoubtedly be updated to match this information soon. The .700 patches must be applied to all EPM products in each environment so you have to be patient and wait for all of them to become available. Have a look at the readme files for each individual patch as there are numerous fixes made to the products. Also note the prerequisites as some of the patches seem to rely on newly released ADF patches.

No More Remote XUL Manager!

This is a quick post to point out a cool feature in EPM 11.1.2.4 that I have somehow overlooked (thanks to Nicklas Englund for the tip!). In previous EPM versions you had to install an extension called Remote XUL Manager in order to use EPM web applications with the Firefox browser. The EPM System certification matrix document also included a note about this: "Firefox 17+ ESR and 24+ ESR requires Remote XUL Manager 1.0.1 Add-on". In 11.1.2.4 this requirement has suddenly been removed without so much as a word in the readme file!

The HFM Upgrade Diaries Part 1 - Known Issues

Lately I have been busy installing HFM 11.1.2.4 environments for several local customers. In this series of blog posts I will share my experiences about these upgrades - hopefully making life a bit easier for other early adopters.


Known Issues In HFM 11.1.2.4

In this first post I will list the most notable problems I (and my colleagues) have ran into so far.

HFM 11.1.2.4 - Proven Performance?

Since EPM 11.1.2.4 was released in February, we have been busy testing the new release on the Infratects lab servers. It seems that Oracle was not bluffing when they showed us some very promising performance figures in Kscope14... HFM 11.1.2.4 indeed seems to give a nice boost to most of the customer's applications we have tested so far. I did a 2 Minute Tech Tip session with Bob Rhubart of OTN ArchBeat in March in which I shared some of our initial findings. See the video below for this bite-size introduction into what makes the new HFM version so fast.

My colleague Kieron Cassidy from our Netherlands office has collected the consolidation test results into a nice white paper which you can download from the Infratects website:  White Paper: Hyperion Financial Management 11.1.2.4 - Real Performance Improvements

Personally I have installed two EPM 11.1.2.4 environments for different customers so far. These are Development/Test environments, with first Production ones scheduled to be implemented in May. There are plenty of upgrade projects in the pipeline and it's nice to see that customers are willing to give this version a try. Watch this space as I'm planning to post new stuff about the release soon!

Steps To Completely Uninstall EPM 11.1.2.x + Greetings From Top Gun 2015

I returned from the Infratects Top Gun conference on Sunday. The event, this time held in London, was once again a great opportunity to get insights on the latest EPM release (straight from Oracle Product Development of course) and meet lots of like-minded people. The presentations (except the ones from Oracle devs, I assume) will be published on the event's web site soon. See http://www.infratects.com/topgun

Opening speech by Soner Bekir

To get back into blogging I thought I'd start with an easy post. Oracle has published an article yesterday that helps in case you need to get rid of all EPM products installed on a server. There are quite a few tasks to carry out so the list acts as a useful reminder even if you already know all the bits you need to clean up.

• Oracle Support: Perform a Clean Uninstall of EPM 11.1.2 on Microsoft Windows (Doc ID 1140553.1)

And a couple more photos from Top Gun to wrap things up properly:

Francisco giving a presentation on FDMEE

Traditional transport to the social event

Dinner served high on the Tower Bridge walkway

The mandatory tourist photo

HFM 11.1.2.4 Running On Commodity Linux

HFM 11.1.2.4 was released by Oracle last week. The talks about platform independency got many EPM professionals excited - and then disappointed when they learned that besides Windows Server you can only run HFM on Oracle Exalytics. But some Exalytics servers run on Oracle Linux, right? Could HFM be installed and configured to run on a commodity Linux box? Just for the fun of it I tried and managed to get it working!

Say Hello To HFM 11.1.2.4

As many of you may already have heard, the Oracle EPM release 11.1.2.4 was made available on Oracle Technology Network earlier this week. Social media has been abuzz with activity since and many bloggers have already written posts about all the new features. Instead of making another set of installation screenshots I wanted to take a closer look at Hyperion Financial Management as HFM is the product that has gone through most changes in this version.

Oracle EPM, IE11 and Enterprise Mode Explained

The following message and the Bindows information page are familiar to those who have attempted to use current Oracle EPM versions with Internet Explorer 11. In August last year Oracle published an article stating that use of Internet Explorer 11 is now supported with EPM versions 11.1.2.2 and 11.1.2.3 as long as you use Enterprise Mode in the browser. In this post I will explain what Enterprise Mode is and how you can enable it for your EPM environment.

Note that later EPM releases 11.1.2.3.700 and 11.1.2.4 are tested and certified with IE11 and they do not require Enterprise Mode to be configured in the browser.